Quite A Scare

garage 5
My truck. Our kids call it “Thunder.”

We had quite a scare tonight.  I’m still feeling a bit sick from it.  Earlier today I was sitting on the couch talking long distance with my Mom when I got a frantic phone call from my wife saying our son ran off at Walmart and was missing.  I told her I was on my way and told her to call the police.

I tore out of the garage in my Chevy truck and I hit the gas.  I must admit I was probably going 60 through my neighborhood and I was coming in hot!  As I turned the corner and headed down the hill towards town, I saw my son just sitting on the sidewalk looking hot and exhausted with bright red cheeks.  We live a good two miles up hill and through traffic from the store and he ran half way home!  I pulled over and ran over to him asking him what he was doing and what he was thinking.  He told me he couldn’t find my wife and he thought she left, so he left Walmart and started running home.  He is only nine.  I couldn’t believe it!  On the way down I was praying that the Lord would give angels charge over him and he wouldn’t get hurt and right after that I found him.  Praise God I found him and praise God he didn’t get killed crossing the highway!  Praise God he wasn’t abducted!

I told him, “Why in the world would Mom leave the store without you son?!  She wouldn’t just leave!  The whole store was looking for you!”  I gave him a hug and was so glad he was okay.  I called my wife and told her to tell everyone that I found him and I told my son to get in the truck.  Man folks, for a minute there I thought somebody had taken him!  I felt sick to my stomach!

My wife said the head of Walmart put out a “Code Adam” at the store, which causes every single employee in the store to stop what they are doing and look for the lost child.  My wife was just about to call the police when a lady told my wife that she had just seen a young boy running up the road towards the highway.  I found our son shortly after that.

The whole thing played out in a matter of minutes.  We have told our son a million times not to run off at the store.  We have also told him if he ever got lost, to immediately tell an employee of the store and they will help.  We never told him to leave the store and run home!  Man O man!  I can laugh about it now, but that was quite a scare!

You should have seen my son’s face when he saw me come roaring down the hill in my truck!  Priceless!  Thank You Jesus for helping me find him so quickly!  At least he knows how to get home on his own from the store.  What a crazy day!

We have hugged and kissed our son many times tonight and we always do, but tonight feels extra special.  We are just glad he is home safe.  I love my son so much and our daughter too.

Now I know how Joseph and Mary felt when they lost Jesus.  The sickening feeling of panic is not nice.  I immediately started praying as I left the house to find him.  Always keep an eye on your kids.  Our son could have been taken, hurt, or killed and we are just so thankful to have him home.

“When his parents saw him, they were astonished.  His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this?  Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

Luke 2:48

Grace and peace to you all!

 

 

Author: Ryan Callahan

Hello, and welcome to my site! I am an independent Christian author (One Man's Very Strange Supernatural Life), blogger, and evangelist for Jesus. My main goal with this blog is to help people come to know Jesus, help people understand the Bible, and to minister to a lost and hurting world. This site is about hope, new beginnings, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love! I'm glad you are here, God bless you! Copyright © 2024 Ryan Callahan. All rights reserved.

79 thoughts on “Quite A Scare”

  5. That was scary Ryan. Thank God you found him. Those little boys can be adventerous sometimes. I have friend whose son when he was about 5yrs old decided to follow my friend to the store. She left him home and told him to stay with his grandma, but he decided to follow her to the supermarket by walking. The supermarket was about 3 miles away. When her mom called her at the store to let her know that the child is missing she went on the road asking if anyone saw him. Someone did and she found him walking on the road to find the supermarket. God is good. It is a awful feeling that no parents want to experience. Thank God your son is safe.

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  7. So glad that everything turned out alright! Those few moments are so scary! It’s moments like this where we are reminded to be so thankful that we have a relationship with the God of the universe! Praising God for your son’s safety! God bless you brother!

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  10. He must have been so worried when he couldn’t find Mom and sister that he just couldn’t think the situation through and wanted to get home. I bet he was shocked to see Dad driving Thunder like a scene from Dukes of Hazard! I am so thankful that his angels kept him safe!!! Am so relieved, too, it only took you a short drive before you found him. I was praying and pleading for his safety! So very scary when you are looking for your child. I am thanking God you are having a relaxing evening and you’re all together.

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  11. Praise God your son is safe, and praise God He helped you to find him so soon after you prayed. What a precious Lord we have who goes out looking for us, and who sends His angels to keep charge over us! Thank you for sharing your miracle with us tonight.

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  15. Oh my goodness Ryan! 😱 I know you, your wife, daughter and mom were all a nervous wreck through all that! That would shave 20 years off a person really quick and put lots of gray hair in that head! I literally felt like I was flying there with you in ole Thunder, holding on for dear life and praying and pleading the blood! God is sooo good! He answered all your prayers! Kids don’t think sometimes. They can panic, too.

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  16. I will never forget going to the library one time, seeing a little girl sitting on the front steps by herself. I couldn’t believe parents would let their kids do this! She was still outside after my daughter and I had returned some books. I stopped and asked where her parents were. She started crying, said she got dropped off by the bus for their weekly Girl Scout meeting. She had went inside but there was no meeting, so she went and sat on the steps waiting for usual pick-up time. The library staff said the meeting had been cancelled and called her mom.
    Months later I happened to ask how the little girl was doing to one of the ladies that worked at the pharmacy where this mother worked. It was her mom! She said she had prayed to find out who I was. She cried and thanked me for looking out for her baby! I’m just glad nothing happened to that sweet girl. She’s in college now!

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  25. Hey Ryan, Glad to hear it all worked out fine!! And Yes scary! Thoughts of how much more does the Father love us and the good Shepard leaving the ninety nine to find the one lost sheep. Hoping the image of Dad’s truck roaring down the hill stays in his mind for a good longtime. And what a good illustration of the fathers love and how we can wander. These are the gold when question come in the teen years. Store this away!! And may our Lord comfort you all as only the Holy Spirit can. Blessing and wellness in the matchless name of Jesus.

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  28. I’m glad you found your son so quickly. Similar thing happened to my son, then 7. One day we dropped him off at a children’s skating place before going to grocery store and told him to stay there until we come back. After shopping,
    we were heading to the skating place. Then I saw him walking on the street! He said he thought we forgot to pick him up at the skating place so he was heading to the store to find us. Children are like that. 🙂

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  29. A feeling I’m familiar with. We once lost one of my then-little brothers at Woolworths for a couple minutes. Found him the next aisle over, crying.
    Same brother two or three times ran from home – once to take a walk up the large hill outside of town (I kid you not!), and once or twice due to attitude problems). Around that time, we really had to keep an eye on him. (At one point, he got a steak knife and threatened to stab Dad! Until Dad showed up and told him off – LOL.) Thank God that phase has long since passed!
    And then my oldest brother (couple years younger than me) ran away for the night twice.
    In both cases: oh, the anxiety! (Especially when my brother stayed out for the night – my imagination ran wild! So did my dreams.)

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